Does it make a difference if I killed a good person? A loved person? A valuable life?
-- Narrator (Pages 7 - 13)

Importance: The narrator begins his message to his son declaring that he has recently killed someone. Initially this admission appears like a remorseful and desperate confession. However, in these lines, the narrator's intent surfaces. He does not want to tell his son about what he has done because he is guilty, but because he wants to know what the value of life really is. These questions act as the story's source of primary tension, and establish the author's primary thematic interests.

She has all our names written inside.
-- Narrator (Pages 7 - 13)

Importance: When the narrator describes his first encounter with the little girl, he also introduces his relationship to the woman in the grey sweater. Indeed, his connection to the little girl is also entangled with their mutual fear of the woman in the grey sweater. Both he...